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Good question.Will an Avtex TV/DVDs USB port power an external USB HDD so that you can play films etc recorded on the drive?
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What hard drive do you use Doug and what file format do you save/rip videoOur Avtex TV's does. Plays USB sticks and a 1tb hardrive.
Doug
You know what the next question is going to be.........The trick is getting the file formats correct so the TV can play them.
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Is this the one Doug?Hi PaulB
I use a software programme called MagicDVDRipper and I select .avi as the format I want when it copies DVD's. It will copy bought DVD's but not for me as I am to mean to buy them. I get the programmes and films from the TV and store them on a Hardrives so I can view them later when in the motorhome. When you download the software from the website you can also download a DivX file which I recommend you do.
Our Avtex TV has a habit for turning off DivX and if you look on here you will find advise on how to turn it on again.
I use the MagicDVDRipper software, about £40, as I tried several and I could get that one to work. I have used it for many films and TV programmes and it has been well worth it. When I find a simpler method of capturing the films I will be very happy.
The TV requires the Hardrive to be Fat32 formatted like a USB stick. I have got Transcend Hardrives which come Fat32 formatted . However they have to be USB 2 units (orange) which Amazon don't seem to be offering now, not USB 3 (Green). So unless you can get USB2 units I would suggest you get a large USB stick, non USB3 just in case although I think one I have is okay, and load on it the films etc you want to watch from your Hardrive which then can be any format. Please note that we have a Transcend 1tb hardrive and whilst it is supposed to be back compatable with USB 2 the TV cannot see the files properly.
i
A standard film takes up about 1-1.3GB of storage so a 1tb hardrive will store a lots of films.
Hope that helps.
Doug
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...or even a cheap tablet - bizarrely the cheaper ones tend to come with an HD expansion slot & HDMI socket. [plus if only to be used as a player via TV you don't need to worry about expensive bits like screen & processor]I find it easier to play it through the laptop to the TV using VLC media player via the HDMI port then it doesn't matter what format it is in.
Good question.
I tried and it didn't work, but others have done so. What is the trick?
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Thanks Brian. 32gb USB FAT32 works OK, but it doesn't recognise the FAT32 portable hard drive. I just assumed it was too power hungry..........I have one old 500GB USB drive that refuses to start up in some computers, obviously too power hungry, but it did work in our TV ( not Avtex ).
However 500GB is too small and the TV wears ( as in clipped to the rear ) a 1TB.
If a USB memory stick does not work then it's down to the TV letting you down on file types.
...or even a cheap tablet - bizarrely the cheaper ones tend to come with an HD expansion slot & HDMI socket. [plus if only to be used as a player via TV you don't need to worry about expensive bits like screen & processor]
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Thanks Brian. 32gb USB FAT32 works OK, but it doesn't recognise the FAT32 portable hard drive. I just assumed it was too power hungry..........
@hilldweller Raspberry Pi sounds good but I have no electronics skills nor know how to wield a soldering iron.
I had a linux Asus for awhile worked fine.No soldering. But it is a Linux computer so not what people are used to. You can buy a complete kit, a bit more expensive and all you have to do is come to terms with Linux a bit.
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I had a linux Asus for awhile worked fine.
But how might that be better than say the Cylone Media Player as mentioned above?
Appreciate the Pi has a lot more flexibility [if you can program it] and the Cyclone is a one trick pony.
Hi Deneb
I have 2 of the Transcend hardrives shown above by @PaulB, One is 1TB and the other is 640GB. Both Hardrives were formatted Fat32 when they were received and all I have done is loaded files onto them. I have not partitioned them in any way. I also have an old hardrive from a previous computer which is Fat32 formatted and that works fine as well.
I can plug these into the USB socket on my 16" W163DR TV which we have had for a few years. The TV recognises the contents of the Hardrives and provided DivX is On in the internal menu it can read the file names and play them.
Doug
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Thanks Phil, I will take a look at the Cyclone multimedia player...not too sure exactly how it all works though in practiceI have no experience of this, as like @PaulB I'm new to all this and haven't yet had time to sort it out, but I read a post on another forum where a user had experimented with his Avtex TV playing from media storage and found that 32GB FAT32 was the maximum size USB stick or other storage that the TV would recognise. The solution for larger external hard drives was to format them into a number of separate partitions, each 32GB or less.
Another post recommended the Cyclone multimedia player as an alternative. Another link in the chain, but it plays AV files in a variety of formats, and he stated that by plugging the Cyclone into the Avtex via an HDMI lead, you could plug pretty much any size drive into it and it would play almost anything. The Cyclone seems to be available for about £28 - £32 on various web sites. I've been thinking of getting one.
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I've had a quick look at the cyclone media player and it looks to me as if it has to be plugged in meaning you could only use it if you have hook up...or am I missing something?Thanks Phil, I will take a look at the Cyclone multimedia player...not too sure exactly how it all works though in practice
In the meantime I'm going to try a USB first and see what happens, I will keep you informed.
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Hi Doug,Hi PaulB
Not seen anything like that on ours.
We select DVD from Source
It then alternates between trying to read a DVD or a USB.
Press List when it is saying usb on screen.
Then it lists whats on the USB.
Select file or folder required. If a folder then select the file in it.
Doug
ps What model TV is it.
That is easy.Just tried to use my HDD to play a film through the Avtex TV usb port. It will play both .MKV and .MP4 files but only in a small "preview" windowView attachment 128738 . See photo. Any ideas?
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